Abstract
A logical database schema, e.g. a relational one, is an implementation of a specification, e.g. an entity-relationship diagram. Upcoming new data models and the necessity of seamless integration of databases into application programs require a cost-effective method for mapping from one data model into the other. We present an approach where the mapping relationship is divided into three parts. The first part maps the input schema into a so-called meta model. The second part rearranges the intermediate representation, and the last part produces the schema in the target data model. A prototype has been implemented on top of a deductive object base manager for the mapping of relational schemas to entity-relationship diagrams. From this, a C++-based tool has been derived that will be part of a commercial CASE environment.
This work was supported in part by the Commission of the European Communities under ESPRIT Basic Research Action 6810 (Compulog 2) and by the Ministry of Science and Research of Nordrhein-Westfalen.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Assenova P., “Concept formation by reverse modelling”, Esprit NATURE Report Series, 92-10, RWTH Aachen, 1992.
Bachmann C., “A CASE for reverse engineering”, Datamation, July 1988.
Batini C., Ceri S., Navathe S., Conceptual design — an entity-relationship approach, Benjamin-Cummings, Redwood City, CA, 1992.
Batini C., Di Battista G., Santucci G., “A formal framework for multilevel schema documentation in a data dictionary”, In Falkenberg et al. (ed.): Information Systems Concepts — Improving the Understanding, Elsevier Science Publ. 1992.
Buchheit M., Jeusfeld M., Nutt W., Staudt M., “Subsumption between queries to object-oriented databases.” In Information Systems, 19, 1, pp. 33–54, 1994.
Casanova M.A., de Sa J.E.A., “Designing entity-relationship schemas for conventional information systems”, Proc. 3rd Intl. Conf. on Entity-Relationship Approach, North-Holland, 1983.
Davis K.H., Arora S.K., “Converting a relational database model into an entity relationship model”, Proc. 6th Intl. Conf. on Entity-Relationship Approach, North-Holland, 1988.
Dumpala S.R., Arora S.K., “Schema translation using the entity-relationship approach”, In Chen P. (ed.): Entity Relationship Approach to Information Modeling and Analysis, Elsevier Science Publ., Amsterdam, 1983.
ISO/IEC 10027, Information technology — information resource dictionary system (IRDS) — framework, ISO/IEC International Standard, 1990.
Janning T., Integration of languages and tools for requirements engineering and programming-in-the-large (in German), Dissertation, RWTH Aachen, 1992.
Kaiman K., “Implementation and critique of an algorithm which maps a relational database to a conceptual model”, Proc. 3rd Intl. Conf. CAiSE'91, LNCS, 498, Springer-Verlag, 1991.
Jarke M., Gallersdörfer R., Jeusfeld M.A., Staudt M., Eherer S., “ConceptBase — a deductive object base for meta data management”, appears in Journal on Intelligent Information Systems, Special Issue on Advances in Deductive Object-Oriented Databases, 1994.
Jeusfeld M., Update control in deductive object bases (in German), Infix-Verlag, St.Augustin, Germany.
Johnen U.A., A re-engineering approach for database modelling (in German), diploma thesis, RWTH Aachen, 1993.
Keim D.A., Kriegel H.-P., Miethsam A., “Integration of relational databases in a multidatabase system based on schema enrichment”, In Proc. 3rd Intl. Workshop on Interoerability in Multidatabase System (RIDE-IMS), Vienna, Austria, 1993.
Markowitz V.M., Shoshani A., “Representing extended entity-relationship structures in relational databases — a modular approach”, ACM Trans, on Database Systems, 17, 3, Sept. 1992.
Morejon J., Oudrhiri R., de Gaudemont M., Negros P., “GraphOr — a meta design tool”, In Kangassalo H (ed.): Entity-Relationship Approach — The Core of Conceptual Modelling (Proc. ER'90), North-Holland, 1991.
Mylopoulos J., Borgida A., Jarke M., Koubarakis M., “Telos — a language for representing knowledge about information systems”, In ACM Trans. Information Systems, 8, 4, pp. 325–362, 1990.
Navathe S.B., Awong A.M., “Abstracting relational and hierachical data with a semantic data model”, Proc. 6th Intl. Conf. on Entity-Relationship Approach, North-Holland, 1988.
Rose T., Jarke M., Mylopoulos J., “Organizing software repositories — modeling requirements and implementation experiences”, In Proc. 16th Intl. Computer Software & Applications Conf., Chicago, IL, Sept. 23–25, 1992.
Staudt M., Nissen H.W., Jeusfeld M.A., “Query by class, rule and concept”, Appears in Applied Intelligence, Special Issue on Knowledge Base Management, 1994.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1994 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Jeusfeld, M.A., Johnen, U.A. (1994). An executable meta model for re-engineering of database schemas. In: Loucopoulos, P. (eds) Entity-Relationship Approach — ER '94 Business Modelling and Re-Engineering. ER 1994. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 881. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-58786-1_100
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-58786-1_100
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-58786-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-49100-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive